Buhro shines in final SBC meet, looks to postseason

Press Contributing Writer
sports@presspublications.com

Hayden Buhro will go down as one of the finest athletes in Oak Harbor history. His play on the football field, the wrestling mat and the track speaks for itself.
His performance in all three sports justifies talk of him being one of the best athletes the area has ever seen, at least in the last 25 years or so.
Buhro earned league and district honors for his performance on the football field; finished third in Division III at 165 pounds in wrestling this past season and has over 100 career wins on the mat, and he just got done with one of the best performances in his life at the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division track meet, finishing first in the 100 meter (10.86 seconds) and first in the 200 (21.86). Both of the relay teams he was on — 4x100 in 42.60 (Buhro, Garry Brooks, Wyatt Augsburger and Judson Overmyer); 4x200 in 1:29.57 (Buhro, Overmyer, Brooks, Owen Miller) — finished first, too. All four events saw new school records set.
“Our sprint relays were doing some pretty awesome things, and we had a major injury on Tuesday, and we had to replace one of our main sprint guys and try to get our relays back to where they needed to be competitive,” said Oak Harbor coach Andy Augsburger. “We filled those with people that we needed to get ready to compete. I felt like they, especially Garry Brooks, did a phenomenal job. Having Garry in the 4x100 and 4x200 was a big thing, and Wyatt Augsburger in the 4x100 and both of those relays did something special and broke a meet record.
“I was very, very pleased with the performance of the team. I think that everybody knew and understood their job and their role,” Augsburger said. “We’ve done some good things up until that point as a team. We had a couple of things unexpected that happened with some injuries that we’ve been working through. There were some people who really stepped up for us to have a really good meet. Some kids really stepped up.”
For his efforts, Buhro was named the Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row. It was also the second year in a row that he won the same four events.
“He’s a very driven individual. As a junior, seeing what he could do at state, and placing with his team in the 4x100 and 4x200, and then making his way in the 100 and 200 at state, but not (making it to the finals), I think he has some unfinished business,” said Augsburger. “He has always been a very driven individual; he’s come to lifting sessions, does a little bit of extra work to hone his craft and get a little faster. He really has put in the work to get to that point. It’s been good to watch him work through that and bring a lot of his teammates along the way.”
Buhro is coming off a track season that that saw him finish in the top 15 in the 100 (13th) and 200 meters (15th) in Division II and in the top eight in two relays — the 4x100 (second) and the 4x200 (eighth).
“Our goals for the SBC Tournament were to win it in our last year, and my personal goal was to be the MVP again,” Buhro said. “At state, we want to do better than last year, so the only thing we can do is win state (in the relay).”
Augsburger has done great things with the program, winning three league titles in the last five years and finishing second the two other times.
“My goal, always as a coach, is to make sure that people had fun and were also part of something. When I was in high school, I had a track coach that was instrumental and was one of the reasons I went out for track. All the winning and the success is great, but I want to make sure the kids have some part in that success. I want to make sure that they have a good experience as well in the program,” he said. “The team, the program, it’s definitely going in the right direction. There’s a lot of talent with this group coming through. A lot of kids are stepping up, too.”
Recently Buhro committed to continue his track career at Tiffin University. He thought about playing football, but it has taken a toll on his body, he said.
Buhro played both ways for the football team, earning league and district honors as a wide receiver and as a defensive back. He also earned honorable-mention distinction in Division V. Buhro was a jack-of-all trades, sort of a Deebo Samuel kind of player, one who could make big plays by catching the ball or running it. He accounted for 1,409 yards of total offense and 19 touchdowns.
Buhro talked about the benefits of playing three sports.
“Wrestling really helped with track,” he said. “Track helped with my speed for football.”
In wrestling, he finished in third place in Division III at 165 pounds, defeating Lakota’s Braxton Quaintance, 3-2, in the consolation finals.
In Oak Harbor’s final year in the SBC, the Rockets have won league titles in football, girls soccer, boys swimming, girls swimming, wrestling and boys track and field.
Next season, Oak Harbor will compete in the Northern Buckeye Conference.